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"speaker_name": "Mr. Abdikadir",
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"content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I also support this Bill. I wish to let the House know that the Departmental Committee on Administration of Justice and Legal Affairs is considering this Bill, and will, in due course, suggest a few amendments prior to the Committee stage. Ethnicity is a de facto reality in our country, and in most places in the world. As my colleague said, this country was as a result of European conquest and Independence thereafter, and as such is made up of different ethnic groups that did not necessarily come together to agree at that point in time. So, historically ethnicity was not considered when our nation was coming into being purely because of the historical factor at that point. At the point of Independence, most of the July 3, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 1641 nationalists, as commentators have said, shunned ethnicity because of the tag of tribalism, and the fact that it was used by the colonialists to divide our people. Those of us who were intellectuals at that time also looked at ethnicity as a practice that was premedial, and that was, in due course, going to be solved by modernity. The reality is completely different! The reality is that ethnicity is the elephant in the room and time has come for this country to address ethnicity. When the Minister was moving this Bill, she stated that this Bill was one of those pieces of legislation that were proposed in the Serena settlement, and that His Excellency the President proposed in his Speech to this House. Ethnicity is the basic mode of political mobilisation in this country right now. Literally, every political party is essentially an amalgamation of ethnic groups, or one ethnic group masquerading as a political entity. It is then time for us to look at how to look at this from a legislative point of view. By virtue of the fact that ethnicity is the basis of political mobilisation, access to the State and its resources is basically on ethnicity, by virtue of the fact that political parties are based on ethnicity. This is not only true in this country or Africa, for that matter. In Europe literally every nation is as a result of ethno-nationalism, and the last bits were seen in the break up of the former Yugoslavia, when most of those nations that resulted really were ethnic entities, calling themselves nations. That is not only true in Europe but in America too the problem exists but in a different form, in the sense that because of the creation of the United States, for example, ethnicity, this time called a race, is a major issue. As a result of immigration, slavery and colonialism, the Americas also have an ethnic problem in the form of a race problem. In the Middle East, the ethnicity question is in the form of religious issues, and sectarianism. In Israel, Palestine and Lebanon, issues of ethnicity and race are really sectarian issues. So, most countries and nations in the world have grappled with this problem of ethnicity. Some have attempted to constitutionalize ethnicity, and look at it right in the face in their constitutions. Lebanon, for example, is one such country. In the settlement of Bosnia, the constitution clearly looked at ethnicity and constitutional provisions for it were made. In Lebanon, it is by the constitution provided that a particular sectarian and religious group will the holders of the Prime Minister's post, and another particular group will the holders of the President's office, while another holds the office of the Speaker. Other nations are coming up with race relations laws. For example, the United Kingdom has the Race Relations Act of 1976, while yet others have looked at this question through their human rights laws. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, coming to the specific Bill before us, it basically sets up a commission to deal with the race issues. Therein lies one of the problems with this law. The fact that the Bill merely sets up a commission! The problem of ethnicity is wider than setting up a commission. Most laws that deal with ethnicity or race, have a commission that deals with that. However, they also have other parts. They have substantive laws creating specific statutory duties, and they have elaborate enforcement mechanisms. All these are absent! I am aware that the Minister said that this was just but the beginning, and that she will be bringing legislation to support and anchor the other areas required. For example, the UK Race relations Act of 1976 is made up of ten parts, and the part setting up the commission called \"the Commission for Race Equality\" is 7. I have looked at parts 7 and 8, which is the enforcement bit. If you look at this enforcement bit, it is three times as large as the part that sets up the Commission. This goes to the point that this commission needs more. It is like a motor vehicle that has an engine, the commission being the engine, but has no body, wheels and upholstery. Therefore, we need the rest of the parts for this law to be useful. Let me go to the specific parts of the Bill that we will need to look at in terms of suggesting amendments. I would like to look at Clause 7 on the term of office. I hope we will have a staggered term as opposed to a term where all the members have a starting point that ends four years, so that 1642 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES July 3, 2008 you lose institutional memory. We will look at it and see whether it is possible to have a staggered term, so that at any time, we have members of the commission who have served in years past. Secondly, we will be looking at Clause 11 in terms of removal from office and the procedures for doing that. It is my opinion that the current suggested procedure is convoluted and complex for no reason. Thirdly, we will be looking at Clause 13 and the objectives in terms of whether we can get time lines for purposes of bringing into force the rest of the law that is required, and that the Minister promised will be coming along. Finally, we will be looking at Clause 25 on the funding of the Commission to see whether there are any mechanisms for making it a little more independent in terms of accessing funding. So, all in all, I support the Bill. I believe, it is a very good start. I believe there is a long way to go. We will be working, hopefully, together with the Minister for Justice, National Cohesion and Constitutional Affairs to reach Canaan, hopefully, soon. With those remarks, I beg to support."
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